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John Maclean, D.D., LL.D. 



DISCOURSE 

DELIVERED AT THE FUNERAL 

OF 

JOHN MACLEAN, D.D., LL.D., 

TENTH PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, 

IN 

THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 

PRINCETON, N. J., 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 1886, 

BY 

JOHN T. DUFFIELD, D.D. 



A MEMORIAL ADDRESS 

DELIVERED IN 

THE MARQUAND CHAPEL OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY 

ON 

The Evening of Baccalaureate Sunday, 
JUNE 19, 1887, 

BY 

JAMES M. LUDLOW, D.D. 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE TRUSTEES. 






^t '§xmttan |ress. 







INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



The Rev. John Maclean, D.D., LL.D., Tenth Presi- 
dent of the College of New Jersey, died at his residence in 
Princeton, N. J., on Tuesday, Aug. lo, 1886. The funeral 
services were held in the Second Presbyterian Church on 
Friday afternoon, Aug. 13, President Maclean having been 
connected with the Second Church since its organization. 
The exercises were conducted by the Pastor, the Rev. 
Lewis W. Mudge, D.D. The Rev. James O. Murray, D.D., 
LL.D., Dean of the Faculty of the College, offered the 
opening prayer. Select portions of Scripture were read by 
Prof Henry C. Cameron, D.D. The funeral Discourse was 
delivered by Prof. John T Duffield, D.D., followed by 
a brief Address by Prof. James C. Moffat, D.D. The 
closing prayer was offered by the Rev. Archibald Alexan- 
der Hodge, D.D., LL.D., and the benediction was pro- 
nounced by the Rev. David Magie, D.D., of Paterson, N. 
J. The following gentlemen were pall-bearers : Samuel H. 
Pennington, M.D., and the Rev. E. R. Craven, D.D., Trus- 
tees of the College, Prof. Wm. Henry Green, D.D., LL.D., 
of the Theological Seminary, Prof J. S. Schanck, M.D., 
LL.D., of the College, the Rev Amzi L. Armstrong, and 
the Rev. J. A. Worden, D.D., of the Presbytery of New 
Brunswick, Mr. James Vandeventer of Princeton, and the 
Hon. Wm. J. Magie, Justice ol the Supreme Court of New 
Jersey. 

The Trustees of the College requested the Faculty to 
make arrangements for a Memorial service in the College 
Chapel on the evening of Baccalaureate Sunday. By invi- 
tation of the Faculty the Address was delivered by the 
Rev. James M. Ludlow, D.D., of East Orange, N. J. 



DISCOURSE 



OF 



THE REV. JOHN T. DUFFIELD, D.D., 

Professor in the College of New Jersey. 



DISCOURSE. 



If this were an occasion for grieving my place 
would be with the mourners. On Tuesday morning 
last when with his immediate relatives and one of 
my colleagues I sat at the bedside of Dr. Maclean 
and felt that hand which so often had extended to 
me a warm greeting grow cold in my grasp and the 
pulses become fainter and fainter until the heart 
ceased to beat, I felt that I had lost my best earthly 
friend. I have received many blessings from our 
heavenly Father which call for thankfulness, but I 
feel that I have special reason for gratitude to God 
that for near fifty years of life's pilgrimage, it has 
been my privilege to enjoy the acquaintance, and 
for more than forty years the intimate personal 
friendship, of John Maclean. Were this an occasion 
for mourning I should not occupy the place I do to-day. 
But who does not feel that the circumstances under 
which we are assembled call not for grieving 
but thanksgiving — thanks, not that John Maclean 
is dead but that he lived ; thanks, that in early 



8 

youth he became a follower of Christ and hence- 
forth to its close his life was an epistle of god- 
liness known and read of men ; thanks, that he was 
so endowed by nature and by grace that upon ail 
with whom he was associated his influence was a 
benediction ; thanks, that he had granted to him not 
only wisdom but wisdom's "right-hand" blessing, 
"length of days;" thanks, that though "by reason 
of strength" his life was extended to more than 
fourscore years, that strength was not "labor and 
sorrow;" thanks, that with faculties unimpaired, in 
old age he brought forth fruit; thanks, that he 
passed through the valley of the shadow of death 
without fear of evil, that his end was peace and his 
death a victory. 

When I look on this casket which contains all 
that was mortal of President Maclean, and think of 
the grand life that ended when he ceased to breathe, 
I feel that without anticipating the time when " this 
mortal shall put on immortality " we may appropri 
ate the exclamation, " O grave ! where is thy vie 
tory?" 

Except in the prospect of the resurrection of 
those who sleep in Jesus, we seldom dare to utter 
this triumphant challenge of the apostle. Often 
the fatal summons comes to those who are in 
the morning of life, full of bright hopes and 
fond anticipations, the centre of a circle of loving 



and admiring friends, at the age when Hfe is sweet- 
est, when the ties which bind to earth are strongest, 
when the youthful spirit bouyant with joy and joyous 
hopes was beginning to wonder why this world 
should ever have been called " a vale of tears " — at 
such a time has the summons come and given 
another illustration of the sad truth which youthful 
inexperience had begun to doubt — and as we com- 
mitted to the tomb the remains of those thus prema- 
turely smitten, we have felt that the grave had had 
a victory. Often has the fatal summons come 
to those in the prime of manhood, who had 
advanced on their career only to be stopped at the 
middle of the course, engaged in the battle of life 
only to fall when the battle was at its height — at a 
time when life's duties were most urgent, when 
loved ones were most dependent, when influence 
was most far-reaching and cherished schemes but 
half-completed — at such a time has the summons come 
reminding us that "man at his best state is vanity" 
— and, as we committed to the tomb the remains of 
those who were smitten so untimely, we felt that 
the grave had had the victory and that a broken shaft 
was the monument appropriate to their last resting 
place. But who would think of erecting a broken 
shaft over the grave of John Maclean ? Thanks be 
to God, to-day we are permitted to carry to yonder 
cemetery the precious remains of one whose career 



lO 

did not terminate until he had reached the goal, 
whose labors did not cease until he had accom- 
plished the work that had been given him to do, 
whose life did not end until its full term was com- 
pleted — to whom death came not as an abnormal 
untimely catastrophe, but the normal ending of a 
finished course, a transition from the sphere of 
service when the work prescribed was done, to the 
sphere of the faithful servant's reward. When we 
contemplate such a life and such a death as this, 
without anticipating the hour when this mortal shall 
put on immortality, we may triumphantly ask, " O 
grave ! where is thy victory ? " When grain ripe 
for the sickle is harvested and the wheat gathered 
into the garner, the preserver, not the destroyer, 
has the victory. 

John Maclean was born in Princeton, March 3d, 
1800, in the brick house on the north side of Nassau 
street, immediately opposite the School of Science 
building. He was descended from an honorable 
ancestry both on his father's and mother's side, the 
genealogical record of each family extending back 
for centuries and including many distinguished 
names. His father, Professor John Maclean, M.D., 
was a native of Glasgow. At the early age of sixteen 
he was graduated at the University of that city with 
high honor and early attained distinction by original 
researches in Chemistry — a science then in its 



II 



infancy. After completing a course of Medical Lec- 
tures at Glasgow, he attended Lectures on his fav- 
orite studies — Chemistry and Surgery — at Edin- 
burgh, London and Paris. He for a time engaged 
with much success in the practice of his profession 
in his native city, at the same time continuing his 
researches in Chemistry. Preferring our Republican 
form of government and believing that in the United 
States he would have a wider field of usefulness, 
he came to America, arriving in New York in April, 
1795. At the ensuing meeting of the Board of 
Trustees he was elected Professor of Chemistry and 
Natural Philosophy. By his acceptance of this 
appointment Chemistry for the first time became one 
of the studies of an American College curriculum. 
In an account of a visit to Princeton in 1801, Dr. 
Archibald Alexander refers to Professor Maclean 
as " one of the most popular Professors who ever 
graced an American^ College." He was at home 
almost equally in all branches of science. In the 
diary of Yale's distinguished Professor of Chemistry, 
the late Benjamin Silliman, M.D., LL.D., there is 
the following record : ''Brief residence in Princeton. — 
At this celebrated seat of learning an eminent gentle- 
man. Dr. John Maclean, resided as Professor of Chem- 
istry. I passed a few days with Dr. Maclean and 
obtained from him a general insight into my future 
occupation. I regard him as my earliest master 



12 

in Chemistry and Princeton as my starting point 
in that pursuit" 

Professor Maclean was married in 1 798 to Phoebe 
Bainbridge, daughter ol Absalom Bainbridge, M.D. 
of New York City and sister of the distinguished 
naval hero, Commodore William Bainbridge. She 
was a lady of rare loveliness both of person and of 
character. Professor Silliman refers to her in his 
diary as " a lovely woman, who made my visits to 
the house very pleasant to me." John Maclean 
inherited in large measure his father's intellectual 
ability and his mother's loveliness of character. 
When but thirteen years of age he was admitted 
to the Freshman Class at the beginning of the 
Second Term, and was graduated with honor in 
18 1 6 — the youngest member of his Class. 

In the winter of 18 14-15 a revival of religion 
occurred, in some respects the most memorable in 
the history of the College, resulting in the conversion 
of a large number of students, many of whom sub- 
sequently became eminent in the Church — Dr. 
Charles Hodge, Bishop Johns, Bishop Mcllvaine, Dr. 
Wm. J. Armstrong, Dr. Ravaud K. Rodgers, Dr. 
Symmes C. Henry, Dr. Charles S. Stewart and 
others. John Maclean, then a Junior in College, 
did not manifest any interest on the subject of religion 
until one day a friend, Edward Allen, said to him, 
" Maclean, have you heard the news ? " " What news ? " 



13 

he asked. Allen replied, " Hodge and Vandyke 
have enlisted." He was for the moment startled by 
the statement as there was at that time in Princeton 
an officer engaged in obtaining recruits for the army. 
After a brief pause Allen added, " They have enlisted 
under the banner of King Jesus." Maclean replied, 
" Well, that was the best enlistment they could have 
made," and was about to leave the room. His friend 
requested him to remain and then spoke to him of the 
importance of personal religion and urged him to give 
the subject immediate attention. The result was the 
conviction that he ought to do so and he at once 
began the study of the Scriptures, with prayer that 
he might be enabled to make them the rule of his 
conduct. He was soon led to trust in Christ as his 
Saviour but did not make a public profession of 
his faith until after his graduation. 

During the following year he was engaged as an 
Assistant Teacher in the Classical School which had 
recently been established at Lawrenceville by the 
Rev. Isaac V. Brown. In the fall of 1818 he entered 
the Theological Seminary and shortly after was 
elected Tutor in Greek in the College. On the 
resignation of Professor Vethake in 182 1 he took 
charge of the Classes in Mathematics and the fol- 
lowing year was appointed Professor of Mathematics 
and Natural Philosophy. The same year he declined 
an invitation to the Professorship of Mathematics in 



14 

Dickinson College. In 1829 he was elected Vice- 
President of the College and Professor of the Ancient 
Languages. He had charge of both the Latin and 
Greek Departments until 1836, when the increase in 
the number of students rendered it necessary that 
the Professorship should be divided. Prof. James 
W. Alexander was accordingly appointed Professor 
of Latin and Dr. Maclean Professor of the Greek 
Language and Literature. At the meeting of the 
Board of Trustees in June, 1853, Dr. Carnahan 
presented his resignation of the Presidency. At the 
meeting of the Board in December, Dr. Maclean 
was elected President of the College and was inaug- 
urated at the Commencement in 1854. In 1868, in 
pursuance of a purpose he had several years pre- 
viously formed, he resigned the Presidency, having 
completed half a century in the service of the Col- 
lege. 

The simple fact that Dr. Maclean should have 
filled in succession these different positions accept- 
ably and successfully is evidence of his eminent and 
varied ability ; yet of itself it would give a very inade- 
quate impression of the extent and value of the ser- 
vices he rendered to the College of New Jersey. 
Without any disparagement to those associated with 
him in the instruction and government of the College 
it may be said that during almost the entire period 
of his official connexion with the College he was the 



15 

ruling spirit in the administration of its affairs. He 
was a born leader of men. He combined those 
qualities of mind and heart and character which win 
the esteem and confidence of others, and give to 
their possessor commanding influence. He was wise 
in counsel, prompt in decision, energetic in action, 
fertile in resource, tenacious in purpose and know- 
ing no fear but the fear of God. He had in him 
much of the stuff that martyrs are made of and 
would have gone to the stake for a principle — at the 
same time was charitable toward those who differed 
from him, scrupulously considerate not only of the 
rights but the feelings of others, courteous not by 
rule but by instinct, of tender sympathy and generous 
impulses, a high-minded, honorable, Christian gen- 
tleman. 

In 1828-9 the College passed through a crisis 
that for a time threatened its very existence. Owing 
to an unfortunate if not injudicious exercise of disci- 
pline in 1824 — which it is proper to say was not 
approved of though acquiesced in by Dr. Carnahan 
who had recently entered on his duties as President — 
upwards of twenty students were removed or with- 
drawn from the Institution. The impression made 
on the public was unfavorable and the number of 
students still further declined, until in 1827 there 
were but seventy-five enrolled. As the College was 
almost entirely dependent on the receipts for tuition 



i6 

and room-rent, it became greatly crippled financially. 
Hoping to increase thereby the number of students 
the charge for tuition was reduced. The result was 
a still further diminution of income and a reduction 
of salaries became necessary. Two of the three 
Professors resigned. One of them, the Professor of 
Ancient Languages, opened a Classical Academy, 
"The Edgehill School,'^ in Princeton. Professor 
Maclean's talents, temperament and loyalty to his 
Alma Mater were just what was needed for such a 
crisis. Instead of yielding to the pressure of dis- 
couraging circumstances, he devised a scheme for 
not only filling the vacancies but increasing the 
Faculty, and this without increasing the current 
expenses. With characteristic magnanimity and a 
self-reliance which was justified by the results, he 
proposed to give up the Professorship which for 
seven years he had filled with ability and success 
and take charge of the Department of Ancient Lan- 
guages ; that Professor Vethake, who was then in 
Europe engaged in scientific studies, should be 
appointed to his former Professorship ; that Albert B. 
Dod, who as Tutor in Mathematics gave promise of 
his subsequent brilliant professorial career, should 
be appointed Assistant Professor of Mathematics 
and Natural Philosophy, to take charge of the 
Department until the return of Professor Vethake ; 
that the distinguished scientist Dr. John Torrey of 



17 

New York, should be appointed to give an annual 
course of Lectures at the College on Chemistry, and 
that an Instructor in French should be appointed. 
The scheme was approved by President Carnahan, was 
submitted by him to the Board of Trustees, and was 
adopted. As an evidence of their high appreciation of 
the abilities and services of Professor Maclean, the 
Trustees of their own motion, probably at the sug- 
gestion, certainly with the cordial approval, of Pres- 
ident Carnahan appointed Professor Maclean Vice- 
President of the College. 

The reconstruction of the Faculty was received 
with general favor. The number of students imme- 
diately increased and was promptly followed by an 
increase of the Faculty. In 1830 Joseph Addison 
Alexander was appointed Assistant Professor of the 
Ancient Languages and Dr. Howell Lecturer on 
Anatomy and Physiology. In 1833, at the sugges- 
tion of Dr. Maclean, Joseph Henry was appointed 
Professor of Natural Philosophy and entered on that 
life-work which has made his name and that of the 
Institutions with which he has been connected, illus- 
trious. In 1834, the scholarly and eloquent James 
W. Alexander, D.D., was appointed Professor of 
Belles Lettres and subsequently Professor of Belles 
Lettres and Latin. The same year Stephen Alexan- 
der was appointed Tutor in Mathematics — the begin- 
ning of his distinguished career as a Mathematician 



i8 

and Astronomer. By these valuable accessions to the 
Faculty, the prosperity of the College was perma- 
nently secured. At the close of President Carna- 
han's administration in 1854, the number of students 
had increased to two hundred and forty-seven. In 
1 86 1 the number of students had increased to three 
hundred and fourteen, the graduating classes for 
several years numbering near ninety. By the out- 
break of the war the number of students was reduced 
to two hundred and twelve, but at the close of Pres- 
ident Maclean's administration in 1868 the number 
had increased to two hundred and fifty-four, and the 
accession the last year of his Administration was one 
hundred and seventeen, the largest, up to that 
period, in the history of the College. 

President Maclean's administration marks a new 
era in the financial condition of the College. Efforts 
had previously been made to secure an Endowment 
Fund — in 1825 by the Alumni Association, in '30 by 
the Trustees, and again in '35 by the Alumni — but 
these efforts were almost wholly unsuccessful. In 
1853, when President Carnahan presented his resig- 
nation, the permanent funds of the College did not 
exceed $1 5,000. At the close of President Maclean's 
administration in '6Sy the permanent funds amounted 
to a quarter of a million. The College had also 
received large gifts for grounds, buildings and special 
expenses — the ground for the Observatory with the 



^9 

first payment for the building of j^ 10,000 from Gen. 
N. N. Halsted, the ground for Dickinson Hall and 
Ji 100,000 from Mr. John C. Green, the property of 
Doct.John N.Woodhull by bequest, contributions for 
the rebuilding of Nassau Hall after the fire of 1854 
and for other special objects. Several bequests to the 
College made previous to 1868 were subsequently 
paid. Without including these bequests, the aggre- 
gate of gifts to the College during President Maclean's 
administration was about four hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars. The College is to be congratu- 
lated that these large gifts have been so far sur- 
passed during the brilliant administration of his 
illustrious successor, but it is no extravagant eulogy 
to say, that on his retirement from the Presidency, of 
all the names enrolled on the General Catalogue of 
the College as Alumni, Professors, Trustees and 
Presidents, there is no one to whom the Institution is 
more largely indebted for its established prosperity 
than to John Maclean. 

The personal relations of Dr. Maclean and his 
venerated predecessor were alike creditable to both 
these distinguished men. Though quite different in 
temperament and through almost the entire period 
of President Carnahan's administration sustaining 
to each other a somewhat delicate official relation, 
their intercourse was never marred by the slightest 
jealousy or other unpleasant feeling. With a high 



20 

appreciation of each other's ability and discretion, 
and with impHcit confidence in each other's disinter- 
ested devotion to the interests of the college, they 
were confidential friends. No important action was 
taken by either without consultation with and the 
approval of the other. In his letter of resignation 
President Carnahan refers to his esteemed colleague 
who had been associated with him throughout his 
entire administration. "To his activity, zeal, and 
devotion to the interests of the College," he says, 
" I must be permitted to give my unqualified testi- 
mony." Subsequently as a member of the Board 
of Trustees, he cordially favored the appointment of 
Dr. Maclean as his successor. It was an interesting, 
and to President Maclean an especially gratifying, 
incident, that his first ofificial act after his inaugura- 
tion was the announcement that the Trustees had 
conferred the Degree of Doctor of Laws on the 
friend with whom he had been so long and intimately 
and pleasantly associated. 

In regard to the choice of a successor to Presi- 
ident Carnahan it may be proper to mention that in 
view of his world-wide reputation, his administrative 
ability and his high Christian character, some of the 
Trustees favored the election of Professor Henry, 
who in 1848 had resigned his Professorship at 
Princeton to accept the Secretaryship of the Smith- 
sonian Institution. When the matter was proposed 



21 

to Professor Henry he was unwilling to be regarded 
as a candidate, and recommended the election of his 
friend Vice-President Maclean. He subsequently 
showed his esteem for Dr. Maclean by having him 
appointed one of the Regents of the Smithsonian 
Institution. 

With no less truth than when the words were 
originally uttered, it may be said to-day, " a Prince 
and a great man has fallen in Israel." John Maclean 
was one of nature's noblemen, richly endowed with 
princely gifts and virtues. He was a great man intel- 
lectually. That abnormal development of healthy brain 
was the organ of an intellect exceptionally vigorous by 
nature, and strengthened and developed by faithful 
culture. He was a man of broad scholarship. Whilst 
making little pretension to what may be called the 
ornamental branches of a liberal education, he was 
proficient in the branches that are fundamental. Few 
Presidents of American Colleges have been ready 
as was he, in an emergency, to take charge of the 
instruction in most of the studies of the curriculum. 
Up to the close of life it was his daily habit to read 
the Scriptures in the original. He was one of that 
company of Christian scholars who, by their services 
in the Institutions of this place and their contribu- 
tions to the old " Princeton Review," made the name 
of Princeton illustrious throughout evangelical 
Christendom. 



22 

In the discussion of the important questions 
which agitated the Presbyterian Church a half cen- 
tury ago, Dr. Maclean took a prominent part. He 
published a series of letters in "The Presbyterian," 
which were afterwards republished in pamphlet form, 
defending with marked ability the action of the 
Assembly of ' 2>7 ^^ the questions at issue between 
the Old and New School branches of the Church. 
He represented the Presbytery of New Brunswick 
in the important Assembly of '38, when the division 
of the Church occurred, and was appointed to pre- 
pare a Circular Letter to Foreign Evangelical 
Churches, on the issues which led to the division. 
He was a member of the Assembly of 1843 
and again of the Assembly of 1844, ^-t both which 
important questions as to the functions of the office 
of Ruling Elder were decided — questions which for 
several years previous had been discussed in the 
religious periodicals and in the ecclesiastical courts. 
The eminent ability with which Dr. Maclean defended 
the views of the majority was recognized in each 
Assembly by his appointment to prepare a reply to 
the protest of the minority. 

Dr. Maclean's most notable contributions to the 
Review were two articles in '41, in reply to two Prize 
Essays that had recently been published in Great 
Britain and afterwards in this country with the sanc- 
tion of the National Temperance Society, maintain- 



23 

ing the duty of total abstinence on the ground that 
the Scriptures condemned all use of intoxicating 
drinks and that the " wine " whose use was not for- 
bidden in the Scriptures and which was used by the 
Saviour in instituting the Sacrament of the Supper 
was " the unfermented juice of the grape." No 
more exhaustive and conclusive argument in oppo- 
sition to the doctrine of these Essays has ever been 
published. The articles attracted much attention 
both in this country and in Great Britain and secured 
for their author a high reputation for classical, bib- 
lical and patristic scholarship. 

In 1873 he published in the Review a valua- 
ble exegetical article on the Harmony of the dif- 
ferent accounts of Christ's Resurrection, in which he 
shows even in old age, familiarity with a somewhat 
abstruse branch of Mathematics — the Doctrine of 
Probabilities — proving thereby the credibility of the 
different narratives by their evidently undesigned 
agreement in so many different particulars. 

The State of New Jersey is largely indebted to 
Dr. Maclean for her present Common School sys- 
tem. He was one of its earliest and ablest advocates. 
He read a paper on the subject before "the New Jer- 
sey Literary and Philosophical Society" in 1829, 
which was afterwards printed and widely circulated, 
and in 1833 published an article on " Common 
Schools " in the Princeton Review. 



24 

After his retirement from the Presidency, his 
life-work was fitly crowned by preparing for the 
press a History of the College from its origin to the 
close of President Carnahan's administration — the 
Preface containing many important facts in connex- 
ion with his own administration. The work is 
admirable for the exhaustive extent and minute 
accuracy of its information, gleaned from every avail- 
able record and document and supplemented from 
the stores of his wonderful memory. It contains 
judicious discussions of questions pertaining to the 
instruction and government of the College, and 
interesting biographical sketches of that remarkable 
succession of distinguished men who had preceded 
him in the Presidency. Having completed this labor 
of love, with characteristic generosity he gave the 
manuscript to an Association which he had been 
instrumental in organizing, after his official connexion 
with the College had terminated, to aid worthy stu- 
dents in the College needing assistance. 

President Maclean was a great man intellectually 
— he was greater morally — greater in the elements of 
a noble, manly, lovely character. It was for grandeur 
of soul, rather than of intellect, that he was spoken 
of as " a grand old man." He had an abnormally 
large brain, he had a larger heart. It was this large- 
heartedness that made him so loving and so lovable 
it was this that so endeared him to his pupils and 



25 

to all with whom he was associated, that on the day 
when he resigned the seals of the Presidential 
Office, it was said by one not given to extravagant 
expression, that " John Maclean was the most loved, 
man in America." The luxury he most indulged in 
was " the luxury of doing good." To promote the 
happiness of others was the ruling principle, the 
passion of his life. His ready sympathy and his 
generosity attracted to him those who were in 
trouble, and to the extent of his ability it was 
ever a pleasure to minister aid and comfort. 
He was "given to hospitality," not because it was 
a commanded duty but from the impulse of a 
generous nature, and his cordial welcome, his 
genial manner and his unaffected courtesy made 
every one, friend or stranger, who entered his hos- 
pitable mansion, feel at home. He was not only 
unselfish but self-sacrificing in efforts to promote 
the happiness and the welfare of others. He 
repeatedly had sick students brought to his house 
that he might be assured they would be properly 
cared for, and that he might personally minister to 
their comfort. A few years ago an incident acci- 
dentally came to my knowledge that until to-day I 
have not felt at liberty to mention publicly. I met 
him one day on the sidewalk near my house with a 
small package in his hand and walking rather briskly 
toward the railroad station. I asked, "which way are 



26 

you going?" With some hesitation, and blushing, as if 
he would have preferred that his object should not 
have been known, he replied, " I met on the street 
a few moments ago a colored man — a stranger — 
who appeared to be unwell. On inquiry I learned 
that he was in feeble health and was on his way from 
Trenton to New Brunswick, where he had friends. 
I asked him why he did not go in the cars ? He 
said he had no money. I gave him enough to pay 
his fare and directed him to the station. After leav- 
ing him it crossed my mind that he had probably 
had nothing to eat since leaving Trenton and was 
faint from hunger, so I went to the baker's and 
bought a loaf of bread which I am taking to him," — 
and he passed on on his errand of mercy. I thought 
of Him, who when on earth *' went about doing 
good," who washed His disciples' feet, saying, "I 
have given you an example that ye should do as I 
have done to you," and when I saw the venerable 
Ex-President of the College becoming a poor col- 
ored man's servant, and this without solicitation — 
ministering personally to a stranger who had no 
other claim than that he was needy and friendless — 
I felt that it was the most Christ-like act I had ever 
witnessed. Yet this was characteristic of the man. 
Estimated by the divine standard, " he that would 
be great among you let him be your minister, and 
he that would be chief let him be the servant of all," 
John Maclean was the greatest man I ever knew. 



27 

Any portraiture of Dr. Maclean's character 
would be defective that did not give prominence to 
his piety. He was a truly great man because he 
was "a good man, full of faith and of the Holy 
Ghost." He was endowed by nature with the traits 
of a noble character, but these natural endowments 
would never have made him " the grand old man " 
he was, had they not been sanctified by grace. 
That rare combination in him of manliness and love- 
liness was an illustration of the spiritual meaning of 
the declaration of the Psalmist, " strength and 
beauty are in Thy sanctuary." From the time he 
'* enlisted " in Christ's service, seventy years ago, 
until his earthly course on Tuesday last was finished, 
he was a loyal soldier, a good and faithful servant 
of Jesus Christ. His single aim in all things, was to 
know his Master's will and do it. He was not only 
a diligent student of God's Word but made that 
Word the rule of all his conduct and the glory of 
God the chief end of his life. Scrupulously faithful 
in the discharge of every personal and official duty, 
he was earnest and unwearied in effort for the spir- 
itual welfare of others. As a member of the 
Faculty he was not only regular in attendance on 
all the ordinary religious exercises of the College 
but conducted a special half-hour service in one of 
the recitation rooms, four evenings of every week of 
term-time, for many years. When he became Pres- 



28 

ident, in addition to the accustomed Biblical instruc- 
tion on the Sabbath he took charge of one exercise a 
week in religious instruction v^ith each one of the 
Classes. In his Inaugural Address he emphasized 
the fact that the College of New Jersey was founded 
to promote religion as well as learning, and he 
was " instant in season and out of season " in labors 
and in prayers that this end might be fulfilled. 
Steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work 
of the Lord, his labor was not in vain in the Lord. 
From his election to the Vice-Presidency until the 
close of his official connexion with the College 
scarcely a Class was graduated that had not passed 
through a season of special religious interest and 
that did not contain a number who had been hope- 
fully converted in College. His religious activity 
was not confined to the College. He was " ready 
unto every good word and work." He took an 
active interest in the welfare of our colored popula- 
tion and was their trusted counsellor, their steadfast 
friend and generous benefactor. It was mainly 
through his instrumentality that the Witherspoon 
St. Presbyterian Church was organized and their 
house of worship erected. Some forty years ago, 
when the interests of Presbyterianism in Princeton 
seemed to demand a second Church, at the solicita- 
tion of those immediately interested and with the 
cordial approval of his brethren, including the pas- 



29 

tor of the First Church, Dr. Maclean took charge of 
the enterprise. By his energy and liberality he 
contributed so largely to the success of the effort 
that for many years our Church was known as " Dr. 
Maclean's Church." After his withdrawal from the 
College until a few months ago when prevented by 
the infirmities of age, he was regular in his attend- 
ance on its services, was in proportion to his means 
probably the most generous contributor to its sup- 
port, and by many a kind word and deed encour- 
aged the Pastor in his labors. To this Church his 
death is an irreparable bereavement. 

His last appearance in public was at the after- 
dinner meeting of the Alumni on the day before 
Commencement. It was the seventieth anniversary 
of his graduation. He was, and for many years had 
been, the President of the Alumni Association. The 
scene of thrilling interest occasioned by his presence 
will never be forgotten by those who witnessed it. 
When he entered the hall leaning on the arm of his 
friend Dr. Schanck, the whole assembly rose and 
welcomed him with cheers which continued, increas- 
ing in volume and enthusiasm, until he was seated, 
the central figure on the platform. He was unable 
to respond, but a brief address which he had pre- 
pared was at his request read by Professor Cameron. 
He remained for a little time, and when he rose to 
retire the assembly again rose and remained stand- 



30 

ing In respectful silence until he had left the hall. 
Many eyes unused to weeping were wet with tears 
as they looked for the last time on his venerable 
form. Grateful as such an expression of the respect 
and affection of the Alumni must have been to him 
as his earthly career was drawing to its close, the 
main Inducement to attend the meeting was not the 
ovation that awaited him. At the risk of hastening 
the end which he knew was near, he was present, 
that in his farewell address to the Alumni he might 
once more, and under circumstances calculated to 
make a deep and lasting impression, record the fact 
that the College of New Jersey was founded for the 
promotion of religion as well as learning, and to 
express the hope and prayer that the design of the 
pious founders of the Institution would ever be 
sacredly regarded by those to whom its Interests 
might be entrusted. 

Until near the very close of his life his faculties 
continued unimpaired. He looked forward to death 
and the life beyond with unclouded faith aiid a 
blessed hope. He had fought a good fight, he 
had finished his course, he had kept the faith, and 
he was " ready " for the time of his departure. His 
end was painless and peaceful. As an infant In a 
mother's arms he fell asleep and entered Into rest. 
He Is gone, but in many hearts until they cease to 
beat his memory will be precious. 



31 

God in His providence to-day is repeating the 
injunction of His word, " Mark the perfect man and 
behold the upright for the end of that man is peace." 
Though " dead he yet speaketh." Such a life and 
death as his is the unanswerable argument for 
the truth of our holy religion. It stands the test 
proposed by its blessed Founder — its divinity is 
demonstrated by such fruits. 

That voice from heaven which the beloved disci- 
ple heard in the Apocalypse is saying again to us 
to-day, " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord 
— they rest from their labors and their works do 
follow them." 

Who will not join me in the prayer, " May my 
last end be like his ? " 



ADDRESS 

OF 

THE REV. JAMES M. LUDLOW, D.D., 

Pastor of the Munn Avenue Presbyterian Church, East Orange, N. J. 



ADDRESS. 



I appreciate very highly the honor of having 
been selected by my Alma Mater to voice the loving 
respect for the memory of Dr. Maclean which fills 
all our hearts. I appreciate also, and very keenly, 
the fact that I cannot do justice to the subject. 
Were this possible under any circumstances, the 
lateness of your invitation and the fact that Professor 
Duffield has already, upon the occasion of the funeral 
service, delivered an eulogy which was so complete 
as an analysis of the character and summary of the 
life of our beloved preceptor, would have made me 
hesitate to undertake the duty of to-night. I have, 
however, overcome this feeling by the thought that 
no one who knew Dr. Maclean will expect me to do 
justice to his memory, any more than a son is 
expected to do justice to the memory of his father, 
when, swayed by the tide of grateful recollections, 
he looks upon the dear face in the coffin, and says, 
" How I loved him ! " But it is worth coming back 
to Princeton just to say that of Dr. Maclean. 



36 

And however inadequate my words may be in 
themselves, they gather incalculable meaning in 
that they will express the feeling of thousands of 
living graduates who received instruction from him, 
and who, from all parts of the world, from the high- 
est council chambers of the nation, from the labora- 
tories of science and the retreats of philosophy, from 
pulpits and court rooms, from all the paths of pro- 
fessional and commercial life, hail his name with 
loving recollections. The flowers of grateful tribute 
come in such profusion that no one can arrange 
them in a set speech. I bring a few ; but our 
service, like Buddha's bowl, overflows with them. 

The many relations which Dr. Maclean sustained 
to the community, as professor in various branches 
of literature and science, disciplinarian, writer, coun- 
sellor and ecclesiastic, made many impressions of 
him in many minds ; but there was one impression 
which he made upon everybody : — he was great in 
his goodness. Whatever else I may have to say, 
with this I must begin, and to this I must revert ; for 
his goodness gave quality to everything associated 
with him. It was to his other characteristics what a 
racial type is to the features ; the common stamp 
upon them all. It was not merely, as has been said, 
the finest bloom of his manhood, but its very essence. 
If you read the formal tributes paid to his memory 
by various corporate bodies with which he was con- 



nected, you will observe that they are climacteric in 
this regard. Thus the men of science represented 
by the Smithsonian Institute recognize his service 
" in the cause of culture, of truth and righteousness!' 
The resolutions of the Board of Trustees of the Col- 
lege express appreciation of " his ability, learning, 
benevolence, kindness and affection!' His moral qual- 
ities were to his other traits what the glow is to the 
various hues of the sunset, giving to each its glory. 
But I must note some of the hues as well as the 
glory. Dr. Maclean was of marked individuality in 
many respects. His personal appearance was nota- 
ble. Dore's delineation of Virgil guiding Dante 
through the shades of Inferno was not more unique 
than that tall, straight form, its angularity broken by 
flowing hair and long cloak, which our imagination still 
sees moving among the trees of the campus. Nature 
had endowed him with a rare physique. His muscles 
were iron and his nerves steel ; a straight inheritance 
of the Maclean clan that swung the claymore on the 
Scottish border. And woe to the college athlete 
who, prowling after mischief across the border of 
propriety, felt his grip ! Once, after he had turned 
his seventieth year, a stalwart law-breaker whom he 
had captured and brought to his office door, there 
escaped him. The venerable man looked for a 
moment at the vanishing form of the student, and 
then, gazing upon his own hands, as if loth to admit 



38 

the fact that their natural force was abated, with a 
sigh, said, '' Well, I didn't think it ! " 

Perhaps Dr. Maclean never knew the sensation 
of physical fear. In the thickest of the melee be- 
tween the ruffianism of town and college, by the 
lighted fuse which was to explode the walls of Old 
North, and in the secret caucus of disguised despe- 
radoes, his form suddenly appeared, the impersona- 
tion of the Gaelic motto of the Macleans, *' Dreum 
Rioghail do' chiosnuicht nach striochdeadh do Shlu- 
aigh, — a royal clan of bravery which never sur- 
renders to a multitude." 

Of the intellectual character of Dr. Maclean it is 
not easy to form an estimate. The circumstances 
of the College forced him to give instruction in so 
many departments that it would have been a marvel 
if he had found additional time to prove his genius 
in any. But so strong and facile was his mental 
energy that it developed a notable degree of talent 
for almost every subject that interested him. He 
was able to hold the different chairs in Princeton, 
not through your mere partiality ; for, it is now 
known — what his modesty at the time concealed — 
that he received overtures from other colleges to fill 
similar professorships with them. Dr. Matthew B. 
Hope, than whom Princeton never had a shrewder 
judge of men, used to say that had Dr. Maclean 
given himself to any particular study in science, 



39 

philosophy or language, he would easily have at- 
tained celebrity in it. If we doubt this, we may find 
the reason for the failure of Dr. Maclean to become 
a master in specialty, not in the lack of special 
ability, but rather in the possession of certain other 
intellectual impulses which made his thoughts over- 
flow any single channel. He saw too many things, 
if not at once, yet in quick succession, and was im- 
patient of one-threaded continuity. There were too 
many windows in his mind to show a ray through 
the keyhole ; yet the keyhole ray — as good Prof. 
Alexander used to show us in the laboratory — would 
reveal mysteries which wide windows could not. A 
specialist not only focuses mental light upon his 
theme; sometimes he must exclude light. If Dr. 
Maclean lacked any intellectual equipment, it was, 
perhaps, of the nature of adjustable shutters. His 
mind was like an ancient temple, open to the sky. 
He was, moreover, of that practical turn of talent 
which requires an idea to be run into definite shape, 
to become solidified in fact, in order to be long re- 
tained in interest. These, a wise critic observes, 
are the qualities of a born ruler, a commander of 
men, who catches ideas quickly, but needs power to 
execute them. Heinrich Heine called Bonaparte "a 
wide-eyed man" who could ''see the whole things of 
the world, while we others can only see them one by 
one, and then only in shadow." But that "wide 



40 

eye" would have thoroughly penetrated no depart- 
ment of knowledge had circumstances settled him 
as a professor in the school of Brienne, instead of 
thrusting him out amid the whirl of "affairs." Carnot 
said that Bonaparte could not have made a scientific 
man. Perhaps the same was true of Dr. Maclean ; 
if so, for the same reason. 

But he could have commanded men. At first it 
seems an odd fancy, that of Dr. Maclean doffing the 
gown and donning the military cloak. But, having 
been once suggested, the fancy grows less fanciful. 
His face, while suffused with benignity, had the 
Cromwellian square brow, and straight Caesar-lips 
formed for short crisp sentences. His frame was 
full of nervous impulse which could not endure the 
quiet of the study when there was need for a proc- 
tor's service out of doors. One can imagine that 
long white hair floating on the wind in a cavalry 
charge ; though it is impossible to conceive of it fly- 
ing before any enemy. 

In council Dr. Maclean was eminently wise. 
One intimately associated with him in the govern- 
ment of the college says, that he saw almost intui- 
tively what would prove in the long run the best 
policy, though he lacked — or disliked to use with 
the noble men associated with him — what we ordi- 
narily call " policy," in leading others to second him. 
He did not seem to appreciate the adage, " The 



41 

longest way round is the shortest way home ; " but 
struck out across fields on the straight line of definite 
statement of whatever was in his mind. He failed 
to accomplish many of his purposes because others 
did not appreciate them. Had he been in untram- 
meled authority many of the best things the college 
has done would have been done much sooner. 

As an illustration of his astuteness in this respect, 
I may instance Dr. Maclean's relation to the Public 
School system of the State of New Jersey. In January, 
1828, he delivered in the College chapel, before the 
New Jersey Literary and Philosophical Society, an 
address which he entitled " A Proposition for a 
Common School System." At the time the State 
appropriated annually ^15,000 for educational pur- 
poses. With this sum, and without definite system, 
of course next to nothing was accomplished. Dr. 
Maclean urged that this appropriation should be 
used only as a sort of bounty to stimulate the 
various townships to raise money themselves ; and 
that laws be enacted enabling the towns to tax 
themselves to any amount for this purpose, so that 
suitable buildings might be erected everywhere ; the 
appointment of a Board of Education, with a Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction ; the founding of a 
State Normal School for the special training of 
teachers ; etc. He insisted that the schools should 
be absolutely non-sectarian, — in his words, " There 



42 

should be in no case the least Interference with the 
rights of conscience, and no scholar should be re- 
quired to attend to any lesson relating to morals or 
religion, to which his parents may be opposed." 
Within the year after this address was delivered, 
the Legislature took the initiative of the present 
Common School system, which is built closely upon 
Dr. Maclean's idea; and the first township that 
availed itself of the new system did so in response 
to his personal appeal to its citizens. It is pleasant 
and significant to note that this important proposi- 
tion regarding Public Schools came from the College 
devoted to higher learning ; and that this appeal on 
behalf of the liberty of every citizen to have his 
children educated without religious bias that offend- 
ed his conscience, was made in the chapel of Nassau 
Hall, a place supposed, in that day, to be conse- 
crated to Presbyterian orthodoxy. Princeton has 
been accused of Puritanism; but it was evidently 
more of the Roger Williams type than that of the 
fathers about Massachusetts Bay. 

Dr. Maclean possessed a rare faculty for measur- 
ing men, and was seldom deceived in an estimate of 
either ability or character. At a time when he him- 
self constituted at least one-half of the Faculty, and 
when the state of the finances and repute of the 
college raised the question of abandoning the enter- 
prise. Prof Maclean saw that the institution would 



43 

be saved only by securing a corps of instructors 
whose recognized ability would make it worth sav- 
ing. That " wide eye" of his detected the latent 
possibilities of such young men as Joseph Henry, 
Albert Dod, and John Torrey ; and he secured them 
for Princeton. He thus attracted public attention to 
this place as a centre of scientific and literary, as 
well as theolo gical light. It has been well said that in 
view of his shrewd and accurate judgment, and his 
self-sacrificing devotion at the time of the prostration 
of the College, in the decade from 1822-32, the then 
young Prof Maclean was the second founder of 
Nassau Hall ; and the honors of the Presidency 
which afterward came to him, were given as much 
in grateful recognition of what he had already done, 
as in hope of his coming service. 

There was something ominous in his estimate of 
the future careers of the young men whom he studied 
in the class room. As I think of my college mates 
in their present positions, some of honor and others 
of uselessness through indolence or dissipation, I 
recall a conversation which took place at the house 
of a trustee, a quarter of a century ago, in which 
Dr. Maclean acted informally as Class Prophet. 
His words have proved oracular. He knew us 
undergraduates as well as we knew one another. I 
have seen a letter written to him by an undergradu- 
ate, detailing the habits of certain students. On it 



44 

is written in the Dr.'s hand, "I suppose that I know 
these men better than my informant does." Many 
a student has repented the folly of imagining that 
he had deceived him, and of interpreting his leniency 
as blindness to faults. We remember how he used 
his spectacles for mirrors as well as lenses, and saw 
us in the class room when he was facing another 
direction; which thing is an allegory of the way he 
inspected our characters and lives when we were 
least suspicious of it. A thoroughly good man is 
gifted with a sort of moral clairvoyance. Some are 
as sensitive to the approach of a person of sinister 
motives as a photographer's plate is to whatever 
obstructs the light. Dr. Maclean's dislike for some 
persons was similar to that accredited to. Gen'l 
Washington for a certain young officer. He would 
say nothing against him, except when he felt the 
hazards of the military service required that he should 
warn his fellow-ofhcers, — " Put no trust in him in 
matters of emergency." The young man's name 
was Aaron Burr. A student might cloak himself in 
hypocrisy so as to escape detection by most others, 
but he could not indurate himself in his deception, 
so that the fine moral magnet in Dr. Maclean's 
nature would not feel him. 

This leads me to speak more definitely of some 
of the moral traits of our preceptor. 



45 

He was sincerity itself: not simple-minded, but 
single-minded; many sided as a crystal, but with 
each facet so truly cut that they all focused at the 
centre — in his heart. We may say that the lens of 
his soul was achromatic : it did not even ravel the 
edge of the light that came through it, but let it fall 
in pure white radiance upon everything. No man 
ever realized more fully Shakspeare's description, 

" His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles ; 
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate ; 
His tears pure messengers, sent from his heart ; 
His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth." 

He prized the same sincerity in others. In deal- 
ing with students he was especially anxious that 
nothing, even in the severest discipline, should 
tempt them to dissimulation ; to grow the moss in 
the clear crystal of the soul's sense of honor. An 
illustration of this occurs in his history of the College, 
where he condemns the action of the Faculty in re- 
quiring a student under censure for misconduct, 
before restoration to " admit that the discipline in- 
flicted by the Faculty was just." Dr. Maclean 
objects that the Faculty might not be infallible in 
their judgment, and, therefore, must not ask from the 
student so much as a word which does not come 
spontaneously from his conscience. 

This thorough sincerity was associated naturally 
with the keenest sense of honor. His soul was 



46 

chivalric. For example, however much he needed 
detailed information of the conduct of the students, 
he invariably refused to be assisted by any one who, 
in giving assistance, stooped from the highest dignity 
of self-respect, or strained the tie of courtesy which 
bound him to his fellow-students. I have seen an 
anonymous letter written to Dr. Maclean by an 
officious student, exposing the irregularities of some 
of his companions. The letter was preserved, per- 
haps for the purpose of identifying the hand-writing. 
Let us hope for the writer's sake that he was never 
discovered ; for across the bottom of the page is 
written in good round letters, " A witness too cow- 
ardly to come to me, and give his name. (Signed,) 
John Maclean." With such white-livered reformers 
the President would have nothing to do. 

Dr. Maclean was a philanthropist. Every grand 
and humane movement had his practical sympathy. 
But his philanthropy was of an unusual kind. There 
is a vague, vapory, world-embracing sentimentalism, 
that delivers orations, whites poetry and outlines 
schemes for the amelioration of the race, but does 
not see a next door neighbor's needs ; a great mist 
that never condenses into the bright refreshing rain 
drops, but hangs above the parched field of human 
want, the sign to knowing ones of continued drought. 
Dr. Maclean's philanthropy was not of this sort, but 
of the divine kind spoken of in Scripture, which 



47 

" drops fatness upon the pastures of the wilderness." 
If he sat in the Board of Direction of the Coloniza- 
tion Society for sending negroes to Africa, he also 
saw to it that an old and decrepit colored man got 
his breakfast every morning from his table. To 
help the colored church in Princeton he involved 
himself in financial embarrassment. He was a 
patron of the American Bible Society; but he was 
also a Bible Society by himself, and had the 
Scriptures translated into German for distribution 
among the Germans of this neighborhood. He 
was a Tract Society also, for he paid for the 
publication of many tracts, and distributed them 
with his own hand. He was a member of the Prison 
Association ; and frequently walked from Princeton 
to Trenton on Sabbath morning to preach to the 
convicts in the State Prison. He was a great advo- 
cate of making the College especially the nursery 
of young men for the ministry. But his charity was 
wider than his ecclesiastical interest, so he founded 
the Princeton Charitable Institution to help worthy 
young men without regard to the profession they 
might choose, and prevent any from being even 
tempted to enroll themselves for the ministry that 
thereby they might secure a liberal education. For a 
time he was this Charitable Institution, its brain and 
heart and purse, until those of greater means were 
stimulated by his self-denying example to become its 



48 

patrons. There was a wreath upon his coffin, sent 
from afar, every leaf of It an immortelle of some 
fadeless memory of his kindness, as many years ago 
four young men, strangers to Princeton, found Dr. 
Maclean's house their home, and himself a father. 

Now we have the explanation of that saying of 
the elder Hodge, that Dr. Maclean was " the most 
loved man in America." He was loved by more 
people because he loved more people Individually, 
and held them by gratitude for personal favors. 
I said to a prominent man a few days since, " You 
knew Dr. Maclean well ? " " Yes," he replied, " very 
well. I knew him as a scholar ; I knew him as a 
wise counsellor; but best of all I knew him by his 
goodness to me." I quote the words, not because 
they are peculiar, but because there are hundreds 
of persons who can say the same thing. He held 
multitudes not by any glamour of general reputation, 
by the fascination of glowing abilities, by the renown 
of public position; but each one by a separate thread 
of personal admiration and gratefulness. The motto 
of his life was the last sentence that fell from the 
lips of his dying mother. I have been allowed to 
read a letter written to his brother six or seven years 
ago. It was to be opened only after his decease ; 
and left to his brother the charge of seeing that a 
certain student, if he had not completed his educa- 
tion at the time of the Doctor's death, should have 



49 

received several hundred dollars to defray his college 
expenses. He ends the letter, as I am permitted to 
quote, "You remember, the last words of our 
mother were, ' Be kind to everybody.' " Great heart ! 
he was kind to everybody; and everybody loved 
him as naturally as everything reflects the sunshine. 
One delicate feature of his kindliness I and 
every old graduate can witness to. He always 
tried to keep fresh the memory of his own feeling as 
a student. His venerable years, the dignity of the 
Presidency, the necessities of discipline, these could 
not prevent him from putting himself in the young 
man's place. By the way, that modern adage of 
charity, " Put yourself in his place," is far surpassed 
by an ancient one. St. Hildegarde used to say, " I 
put my soul within your soul." Old Dr. Maclean 
put his soul within the soul of the young man, if 
ever a man did. He felt for us as boys ; he felt us; 
he felt himself in us. He saw more wisely than we, 
but he saw from the standpoint of our interest and 
our impulses. In cases of misconduct he saw clearly 
that the evil motive might have been little, and 
disorder been due to the drift of the circum- 
stances of our college life, to thoughtlessness, or the 
mere impulse of fun. Even where real depravity 
may have been at the bottom of irregularities, he 
recognized the point where the wicked intent might 
have exhausted itself or been checked by its own 



50 

consequences, as an overflow of water is sometimes 
checked by its own deposit. He watched for the 
moment when the wayward purpose might be turned 
back to its legitimate channel. Hence his discipline, 
though often criticized by outsiders, generally proved 
the right thing for the subject of it. An illustration 
will show this. Many years ago two young men 
were playing cards after midnight. There was a 
knock at the door. The pack was hastily gathered 
up. A comrade glided behind the closet door. The 
occupant of the room became the picture of the con- 
sumer of the midnight tallow as he bent wearily 
over his books. The President entered. "You 
were playing cards, sir? " " No, sir," was the hesi- 
tating reply. The Doctor raised a coat from the 
table, and held in his hand the winning card in that 
game between himself and the student. His lantern 
as quickly revealed the abashed features of the man 
behind the closet door. My informant, the man 
behind the door, says that the fear of expulsion 
from college was nothing compared with the sense 
of shame that came upon him, as the Doctor looked 
from one to the other, and quietly said, " Good-night, 
gentlemen ! '' They were never summoned for dis- 
cipline. " We didn't need it," says my friend, now 
one of the most useful and honored men in the land ; 
" that look of Dr. Maclean, so righteous against our 
sin and so pitiful for our weakness, had in it more 



51 

disciplinary force than any formal punishment could 
have had ; and Dr. Maclean knew it. He just left 
us hanging there in the contempt of our own 
thoughts. Though I hadn't lied, I went to my room 
with such a feeling that I vowed I would never play 
a game of cards again ; and I don't believe my com- 
rade ever told another lie so long as he lived." 
When I heard this story I could not help thinking of 
our Lord's reclaiming Peter with a look ! 

Dr. Maclean had the rare faculty of administer- 
ing discipline in such a way as not to alienate the 
offender. They came to love hirn best who had 
reason to fear him most. He was so manifestly 
just that he gripped the delinquent by his conscience, 
and then embraced him with his love. There is 
something not only Christian, but peculiarly Christ- 
like, in that. A student who had been rusticated 
says that he spent the weeks chiefly in fishing and 
thinking what a good man Dr. Maclean was. Some 
of us old fellows who shouted loudest a year ago 
when that venerable form was lifted for the last time 
to the platform at Alumni dinner, — who shouted first 
and cried afterward, — put a meaning into our action 
which nobody but Dr. Maclean and ourselves knew. 
There were secrets between us which he was too 
good ever to tell, and which, perhaps, we were 
ashamed to. His full biography will never be writ- 
ten. Its materials would have to be gathered from 



52 

too many hearts. For it we must wait until we are 
together in that clear revelatory light of heaven, 
where our sins are so thoroughly cleansed in the 
blood of the Lamb, and our preceptor's praise so 
thoroughly merged in the praise of His Master, that 
we shall be willing to have it all come out. 

Of his relation to the Faculty of the College, it 
is not my place to speak. I talk of him only from the 
standpoint of a student's memories. The fragrance 
of the thousand loving thoughts which fill the hearts 
of these noble men who were with him in the Faculty 
must be caught in the phial of other words than 
mine. But I may say that two of the professors 
have to-day used in my hearing the same expression, 
" Dr. Maclean was the best friend I ever had." 

His relation to the College after his resignation 
as President, as described to me, is a most beautiful 
illustration of his great heartedness. When he re- 
signed, he resigned altogether ; demitting every- 
thing except his love and loyalty, which he could not 
demit, for they were parts of his life. From Presi- 
dent he became in an instant only patron. Things 
were to be different, — as it was intended his distin- 
guished successor should make them different, — but 
Dr. Maclean would not criticise. He saw his own 
image and superscription no longer upon the coin 
that was issued, but, for its gold's sake, he valued 
the coin not a grain less ; — and we will keep the old 
coin always in circulation with the new. It takes 



S3 

more than ordinary generosity to relinquish the reins 
of control, all at once ; for the fingers become shaped 
to them. Moses could sing a song as he turned 
over affairs to Joshua, who should lead the people 
into a land, he himself could not enter. So Dr. 
Maclean's last years were a song of praise for the 
prosperity he was privileged to look upon. I am 
permitted to lay upon his memory a beautiful tribute 
— the most delicate of my offerings. It is a sentence 
from the pen of Dr. McCosh : — 

" Dr. Maclean's whole conduct towards me was 
ever delicately kind ; and my wish for myself is that 
I may receive half the kindly affection which he did 
from his pupils on his retiring from his work in this 
College." 

I had marked as a separate head to speak upon, 
Dr. Maclean's religious character. But have I not 
been talking of his religious character in all I have 
said ? He put his religion into everything he did. 
All his graces came from the one pervading grace 
of the Divine Spirit. But allow me to refer to his 
conversion. He always had an intellectual faith in 
Christ. His childhood home, like a tent in the ancient 
camp of Israel, opened toward the Tabernacle of 
God's covenant, and he was as familiar with religious 
truths as the Israelites were with the smoke of the 
altar that canopied the sacred structure. The occa- 
sion of his definite thoughtfulness upon the subject 
of his personal relation to God Dr. Dufiield has 



54 

already related. He did not make a public confes- 
sion of his faith until two years after his undoubted 
conversion. We have here an illustration of Dr. 
Maclean's susceptibility to quick and deep reli- 
gious feeling, and, at the same time, the caution 
and patience with which he examined his own 
emotions, to see if they were grounded in as 
deep conviction of substantiable truth. The feeling 
which came so easily to his eyes and lips was no 
surface sentiment, but experience which, like the 
water of a mountain lake, had worked its way up 
through many hidden veins of profoundest thought. 
His religious life was not a series of impulses, but a 
steady flow, like that of a river, deep in its experi- 
ence, wide in its charity, all agleam with beauty, and 
bearing beneficence to everything that came in con- 
tact with it ; a life which in all its vicissitudes, sought 
God's glory as constantly as the stream in its wind- 
ings seeks the sea ; a life that now is lost in the 
glory that it sought ! 

But I must stop. One lesson only I press out 
from these many memories of Dr. Maclean ; one 
gleam comes back from that glory into which he has 
entered, to guide us thither. It is this thought — the 
greatness of goodness. 

In the early barbarism of the race men revered 
physical prowess. Pagan civilization esteemed intel- 
lectual culture. Christianity has crowned character. 
But how easy the relapse to Paganism, to Barbar- 



55 

ism, as in France from character to culture, and from 
culture to the " rehabilitation of the flesh ! " It is a 
significant thing that a great literary institution like 
this puts its freshest laurel around the brow of good- 
ness. Integrity makes a man an integer, without 
which, whatever may be his genius or scholarship he is 
but a fraction. To exalt one without virtue, as Car- 
lyle puts it, only to enlarge his denominator and be- 
little himself. We may go further, and doubt if even 
the intellect can be trained to see far on straight lines 
of truth if there be not back of it the purpose of 
moral rectitude. One of the ancients said, '' The soul 
of the good is pure unmixed light ; the soul of the 
evil-disposed a dark vapor through which nothing 
appears undimmed or undistorted." This is on the 
line of Jesus' words, " The pure in heart shall see 
God ; " and in proportion to purity only can we see 
the truth as it lies in the direction of God. Behold 
Horace Bushnell, wrestling with the problem of life 
and destiny, and finding no solution : then falling 
back upon this, — " One thing I do know, that right 
is right ; " and getting upon his knees he vows to do 
the right. Then, says his biographer, " he rose with 
a star upon his brow." 

It is only the good that the world cares to remem- 
ber. A young man not knowing the world, says, 
" I will perpetuate my memory by the glow of my 
ability." But nothing so soon fades from sight as 
mere useless ability, the flare of genius. Even 



56 

Pharos, the wonder of the world, went out when 
they forgot to bring fuel. Another says, " I will do 
something that men will not forget. I will build my 
monument of deeds." But natu re itself seems jealous 
men who make monuments to themselves. Desert 
sands obliterate stately cities, and the silent passing of 
the centuries rubs down the pyramids. It has been 
observed, however, that the most abiding evidences 
of man's occupancy of the earth are wells. Those 
dug by unknown herdsmen in prehistoric times are 
flowing yet, as Jacob's well invites the villager of 
Nablous, and those of Abraham and Isaac draw the 
Bedawin and his herds to Beersheeba. Open a 
vein of beneficence, and mother earth will keep it 
flowing for the nourishment of her children. So a 
good deed opens the heart of the Eternal, who is 
Love. His nature, and that means all nature, is on 
our side. He who inscribes himself in the Divine 
remembrance need not fear to be forgotten of men. 
The Psalmist says, '' I have seen the wicked in 
great power, spreading himself like a green bay tree. 
Yet he passed away, and lo ! he was not ; yea I 
sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the 
perfect man, and behold the upright ; for the end of 
that man is peace." — Literally, " Futurity belongeth 
to that man of peace." The good never die. So 
our service to-night is not a mere memorial of a 
good life that is spent. It is the salutation of a good 
man who has passed just beyond our sight, 



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